Life in Hangzhou - November 3rd, 2006
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11:27 am
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Got Married Yesterday
Xiujuan and I finally got married yesterday. It was a pretty simple process. Before hand we went to the US Consulate in Shanghai to obtain a certificate of marriageability. To get this document we had to fill out a form and present my passport and Xiujuan's passport, proof of residence (hukou), and identity card. Then they interviewed us separately, Xiujuan first, to make sure we had a real relationship.
Xiujuan was pretty nervous about the interview because she thought it would be in English. However, she told them that we always speak Chinese together, so they interviewed us both in Chinese. This worked out well because my Chinese is fluent, but her English isn't quite there yet. They asked us questions such as how we first met, if we've met the other's parents, what work we do, what schools we graduated from, etc. All were easy questions, and we had all the same answers. After the interview they prepared the certificate within a few minutes and charged me a 400 RMB fee.
The next step was to get photos taken together for our marriage registration in Hangzhou. This was a simple process that cost 28 RMB.
Finally we got married on Nov 02, 2006. We had to go to a special office in Hangzhou that processes marriages and divorces between Chinese citizens and foreigners. Marriages are handled in the morning, and divorces in the afternoon. We each signed a statement and read it out loud, and they sealed our photos in our marriage certificate booklets. This simple process cost 9 RMB and took half an hour. It would have been quicker, but we had to cut our photos down to fit the space provided, and the official registering our marriage also had trouble fitting all characters in my full name in the space provided in the database. Most Chinese people only have two or three characters in their full name, but if you count spaces my full name has twenty characters.
Now that we are married we would like to make a short trip to the US to celebrate our marriage with my family. I'm worried that getting a visa for Xiujuan will be a very complicated and time consuming process however. Anyway, I will be patient and just enjoy living here in China with the most kind, loving, intelligent, and pretty wife in the whole world.
Current Mood:  happy
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